Eduard left Reza in the care of a servant and went in search of his wife. As much as he dreaded telling Marien about the resurfaced letter, he knew it best to get it over with and weather whatever outburst she might make before she discovered Reza would be staying in their home for a while. If she learned through one of the servants, or even ran into the man on her own in the halls, Eduard would never hear the end of it.
Outside her closed bedroom door, he paused to gather himself together. He raised a hand to knock, thought better of it, and opened the door to sweep into the room instead.
Marien sat at her vanity, her blouse unbuttoned, pulled open, as a pretty young native woman daubed rice powder between Marien’s breasts. To absorb the sweat from the summer’s sweltering heat, no dou
